Noosa’s 2-Wheel Zero Heroes
Courtesy of Vivien Griffin
Everyone in the region knows that Noosa’s popular hot spots on the Queensland Sunshine Coast present parking and congestion difficulties, but some individuals are finding solutions to both these challenges, having fun and doing great things for the environment at the same time. Zen calls them Noosa’s Zero Heroes.
Sam Victory has a Fonzarelli NKD electric motorcycle, which he and his wife, Vivien Griffin, share for their transport needs. Having a bike in Noosa is a must have as far as we are concerned. It really enhances your life when you live here. It means you beat the traffic and you can park anywhere you like. We’ve always had bikes and my wife works on Hastings Street, so having the bike means she can just leave for work 10 minutes before she starts and park straight out in front every single time. Doesn’t matter what time of year — Christmas, Easter, school holidays — she’s always got a park (aka parking space).
“For me as well, I surf the points, and as you probably know, it’s almost impossible to get a park there, so having a bike really makes it better. You can pull up anytime, you can beat the traffic, and you can be in the water in a matter of minutes from getting here.”
However, for Sam and his wife, the choice of bike was important. “We wanted to do our part as well to reduce our emissions and help the environment any way we can. So we thought the best way we can do that is look at electric vehicles.”
Sam is a great advocate of the electric motor bike he has chosen. “You are just blown away by the instant torque, the power, the smoothness of the ride.” He laughs, “And you can hear the birds as you ride, which is something you couldn’t do on the old petrol bike. As soon as you get on one, you realise this is the future, so much better than any other bike I have ever ridden.”
Between them, Sam and his wife get maximum use from the bike. “Yes, my wife pretty much uses it every day to get to work and back. I use it pretty much all day every weekend, so it’s our main form of transport; we hardly ever have to go to a petrol station anymore. You get home and you plug it in and you are ready to go the next morning. You get about a 100 km of range, which is more than enough for us and it does 100 km/hr, which is great, so it does everything we want, suits our needs, and has just highlighted how good EV technology is, so we love it.”
Sam and his wife have now added a small e-scooter into their mix as well. “When it’s raining and my wife can’t actually take the bike to work, we thought a great solution to that would be one of the small ride-on scooters. She could throw that in the back of the car, she can park 10 minutes away, which would have been a 10 minute walk to work, she jumps on that and she’s at work in a matter of minutes. So, that solved that problem, and she’s never stuck for a park, that’s for sure.
“Another thing I’d say is after having the bike now, we’re sold on the whole electric vehicle thing, so we are wanting to start upgrading everything from now on. We’re never getting a petrol car again, so as soon as our car is ready to upgrade, we are going to look at getting an EV now that they have come down in price and the range is comparable to petrol. Then eventually we will get solar and a battery for our home so we are completely covered for zero emissions transport.”
If you are inspired by Sam’s experience, come along to the Noosa EV Expo and Street Fest, coming to the whole of Sunshine Beach Road on Sunday 19 June from 10am to 2pm. The event is proudly supported by Noosa Council and Noosa Junction Association.
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